Question: Compute
\[\sin^2 4^\circ + \sin^2 8^\circ + \sin^2 12^\circ + \dots + \sin^2 176^\circ.\]
From the double-angle formula,
\[\sin^2 x = \frac{1 - \cos 2x}{2}.\]Then the sum becomes
\begin{align*}
&\frac{1 - \cos 8^\circ}{2} + \frac{1 - \cos 16^\circ}{2} + \frac{1 - \cos 24^\circ}{2} + \dots + \frac{1 - \cos 352^\circ}{2} \\
&= 22 - \frac{1}{2} (\cos 8^\circ + \cos 16^\circ + \cos 24^\circ + \dots + \cos 352^\circ).
\end{align*}Consider the sum $x = \cos 0^\circ + \cos 8^\circ + \cos 16^\circ + \dots + \cos 352^\circ.$  This is the real part of
\[z = \operatorname{cis} 0^\circ + \operatorname{cis} 8^\circ + \operatorname{cis} 16^\circ + \dots + \operatorname{cis} 352^\circ.\]Then
\begin{align*}
z \operatorname{cis} 8^\circ &= \operatorname{cis} 8^\circ + \operatorname{cis} 16^\circ + \operatorname{cis} 24^\circ + \dots + \operatorname{cis} 360^\circ \\
&= \operatorname{cis} 8^\circ + \operatorname{cis} 16^\circ + \operatorname{cis} 24^\circ + \dots + \operatorname{cis} 0^\circ \\
&= z,
\end{align*}so $z (\operatorname{cis} 8^\circ - 1) = 0.$  Hence, $z = 0,$ which means $x = 0.$  Therefore,
\[\cos 8^\circ + \cos 16^\circ + \cos 24^\circ + \dots + \cos 352^\circ = -\cos 0 = -1,\]so
\[22 - \frac{1}{2} (\cos 8^\circ + \cos 16^\circ + \cos 24^\circ + \dots + \cos 352^\circ) = 22 + \frac{1}{2} = \boxed{\frac{45}{2}}.\]